If you want to dance...

Yep, I'm baptist and just typed dance, but I already digress...

There's a song (Undone) by FFH that I hear on the radio a lot.  Part of the chorus says:
"... we all want love, we all want honor.  Nobody wants to pay the asking price".

That gets me thinking of how I say I want things, to run farther, faster, to know God better, to get another certification, to make more money, to finish my masters degree, to {whatever}.  It also reminds me of the folks I talk to (had one today) that say they want to get on my program or the like.  Truth be told, I bet you have an "I want" list, too.  I don't think there is anything wrong with any of my wants, as long as they are kept in the proper place.

So, what keeps us from accomplishing them?  It is because, as the song says, "Nobody wants to pay the asking price."  If I want to run faster/further, I have to get out and run more.  If I want to know God better, I have to spend time reading His word and praying.  If I want to finish my degree, it will mean nights away from my family.  There is a price to pay for the things we want.  Do we want them **THAT** bad?

When I went from 265 - 270 lbs, 48" waist to my current +/- 170 lbs, 32" waist, I wanted health and fitness MORE than I wanted the doughnuts and fast food.  It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.  I wish I'd paid that asking price a long time ago.  As I'm working on reading the Bible through this year, I have to want that more than I want the extra sleep in the morning.  It is about priorities.

Now, we can all sit back at the all-you-can eat buffet and say I want six-pack abs and to run an ironman next year OR we can get our butt up and start paying the price.  We can say we want to be God's servant and we want to know Him better OR we can get our Bibles down (or down load them on our smartphone/tablet/whatever) and get on our knees.  It is our choice.

I want to stop being hypocritical about my wants, my "I'm gonna ..."s and start looking to see what the costs are before adding them to my to-do lists.

Jesus tells us in Luke 14 to be sure we count the costs.  There are costs involved in following Him.  However, they are well worth it.  I would encourage you to join me in getting off our rear-ends, counting the costs of living healthier lives (both physically and spiritually) and jumping in.

"If you want to dance, you got to pay the fiddler..."

As always, I love hearing your thoughts on these posts.

May He increase and i decrease,

shane

What... one won't hurt anything!!

 I was talking with a dear friend the other day and the subject of my weight loss/fitness came up in relation to spiritual matters.  The question came up, something to the affect (or effect or whatever) "how is it Biblically wrong to have a cookie?".  My thoughts, 'cause I haven't found cookies anywhere in the Bible, are that it isn't assuming you are in control of the cookie, not the other way around.  

At one time in my life, I couldn't have one cookie, or whatever the snack/food was.  I couldn't say no.  I didn't practice self-control.  So, like in Phil 3:19, my stomach was my god (“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”  Phil 3:19 NIV).  We know from the Gospels and Exodus that God is a jealous God.  He doesn’t share his kids with other things.  When I couldn’t turn down that cookie, that extra serving of fried fish, that cake, that doughnut, that diet coke (ouch, did that hurt you as much as me?), that {whatever}, I was trying to serve God and a god.  Can’t do it.  

Along those same lines, the Bible also goes on to talk about self-control other areas.  Just a couple:  

• Proverbs says:  “Like a city whose walls are broken down 

   is a man who lacks self-control”

• 1 Thessalonians says:  “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled”

Self-control, I’ve found, also leads to self-confidence which then leads to more self-control.  Funny how God wired us, isn’t it? 

I posted earlier that the more discipline I have in one area, it surprises me how much discipline I have in others.  Discipline and self-control are pretty much the same thing in my mind.  Life is just better when you have it.  

Maybe you’re OK with passing on a cookie, but how are your thoughts on exercise?  How many days do you miss reading your Bible (OOOUUUCH! My toes, my toes!), how is your prayer life?  

Anyway, I’ll try not to be as preachy next post and hopefully it will not take me 2 months to post again.  

Til next time.

May He Increase and i decrease,

shane